


Numbered Days

by Griddlebone



Category: Mighty Morphin Power Rangers
Genre: Action/Adventure, Alien Invasion, Canon-Typical Violence, Drama, F/M, Friends to Lovers, Hurt/Comfort, Mind Control, Post-Canon, Science Fiction
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2012-05-06
Updated: 2015-01-09
Packaged: 2017-11-04 21:51:46
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 13
Words: 19,174
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/398569
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Griddlebone/pseuds/Griddlebone
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>When Trini's fiance goes missing, she calls on an old friend to help her get to the bottom of things... but they quickly discover that all is not as it seems.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

_"Can you come? I'm really worried."_

Trini's cryptic words echoed in Jason's head for the thousandth time. Since he could make no more sense of them than he could a moment ago, he ignored them and scanned the coffee shop for a place to sit. The cafe was somewhat crowded in spite of the late hour, but after a few moments he spied a table with a good view of the door and parked himself there.

It had taken him almost an hour to get to this cafe from his apartment, and he had been expecting Trini to beat him there, but there was no sign of her. She had not explained the sudden phone call, but she had sounded almost frightened, as if she thought she might be overheard, and that had been enough to convince him to see her.

But she wasn't here. And that worried him.

He was about to try calling her when the cafe door chimed open and she stepped in. She looked shaken and disheveled; it was immediately obvious to Jason that something was very wrong.

She caught sight of him almost immediately and quickly made her way to where he was waiting. It was all he could do not to pounce on her the moment she sat down, but somehow he managed to rein in his curiosity and let her collect herself before bombarding her with a thousand questions.

"Thanks for coming, Jase," she sighed, sagging into her chair. "I'm sorry to bother you so late..."

That was as far as patience could take him. "What's going on?" he asked. "You seem awfully upset."

Trini nodded slowly. "I am." She paused, thinking. Finally, she admitted, "It's Giovanni."

Jason couldn't help himself. He scowled a bit at that. It was no secret between them that while Trini had fallen head over heels for Giovanni Beaumont almost from the moment she first met him, Jason had never really been able to bring himself to like the guy. The two men were always cordial to one another, but that was as close to 'friendly' as they ever came. And courtesy of this mutual suspicion, the first words out of Jason's mouth were, "Did he hurt you?"

Trini looked appalled. "What? No! Jason, he's _gone_."

"He left you?"

"He didn't leave me," she protested. "He disappeared without a trace. I haven't seen him in over a week."

Jason sighed. "I don't get it. I thought you two were planning to get married."

"We were. That's what's so strange. It's not like him to just go off somewhere without letting me know." She let her gaze drop to the table and ran a hand self-consciously through her hair. "Look, I know you two have never liked each other... but I was really hoping you could help me figure out what's going on."

While he did not particularly relish the idea, Jason knew he couldn't turn her down. Despite his misgivings, Trini truly cared for Giovanni. And besides, helping her find him meant that Jason would get to be there when they inevitably caught him with another woman or trying to avoid getting married. And he really couldn't resist the chance to finally be proved right.

"All right," he said. "I'll do what I can to help." But as he spoke, he caught sight of something that bothered him. There was a large bruise darkening across Trini's forearm, just visible beyond the hem of her sleeve.

He gently caught hold of her wrist with one hand and moved her sleeve out of the way with the other. He was displeased to see that the bruise was larger than he had expected. She flinched slightly when he poked experimentally at it, but said nothing. Jason frowned and let her go. "I thought you said he didn't hurt you. What happened to your arm?"

"That's another thing I wanted to talk to you about," she said, meeting his gaze with eyes filled with foreboding. "When I was on my way here, I was attacked."


	2. Chapter 2

Trini wanted to shudder just remembering the attack, but she suppressed the fear and revulsion. It was imperative that Jason know about this, and the only way he was going to find out was if she told him. But that did not mean that everyone else in the café had to find out about it, too.

"Can we go somewhere a little more private?" she asked, giving him what she hoped was an honest and somber, but not frightened, look.

"Yeah, sure," he agreed easily, but she could tell he was troubled by her reluctance. "What did you have in mind?"

She glanced around quickly, thinking at first that his car might be the most private – though probably not the safest – place they could hope for. But then she spied a secluded table wedged into one of the café's back corners. It was a little grungy and pretty cramped and, most importantly, it was well away from other patrons. "Back there, maybe?" she suggested, pointing.

Jason shrugged. "Fine by me."

She let him lead the way to the back corner, stopping along the way to order hot tea with mint in the hopes that it would help calm her nerves. It did not help much, but it was definitely better than nothing. When they had both had a chance to get settled at the new table, Trini took a deep breath, glanced around one more time to make sure no one was eavesdropping, and started her story.

"When I called you, I'd been hearing weird noises in the back garden all afternoon," she told Jason. "I couldn't see anything weird out the windows, but I just had this really bad feeling…" She looked down at her cup of tea and realized she was gripping it tightly with both hands. "I thought it would be a good idea to get out of the house for a while, and it might help me feel better if I actually told someone about what's been going on with Giovanni. But when I got outside, they were waiting for me."

"They?" Jason prompted as she took a sip of her tea.

"There were four of them. They weren't… they weren't monsters, Jase. They were _men_. Human men wearing black suits, with sunglasses hiding their eyes even though it was almost dark out. But they weren't armed, at least not that I saw. I don't think they were trying to hurt me so much as trying to… grab me, or something. I was able to fight them off, but…" She met his gaze, feeling her heart break with fear and worry all over again. "I need to know if this is related to Giovanni's disappearance. What if he didn't leave of his own free will? What if he was _taken_?"

"So that's why you wanted to talk to me about this?"

"No, I wanted to talk to you about it because I know I can trust you," she assured him. "I know you'll be discreet about this and, honestly, there's no one else I'd trust more when it comes to watching my back." He had to know by now that she was buttering him up, but he certainly wasn't complaining, so she went ahead and asked, "Can you help me find out what's going on?"

He had been working as an investigator with the Angel Grove police force for the past several years; she knew he was wary of using his connections for personal reasons, even for his closest friends, but she had to at least ask.

Jason considered the request for a long moment. Finally, he said, "I'll try, Trini. But… you haven't given me a lot to go on."

"I know," she said. And it was true. She had put a lot of thought into the situation before deciding to contact him in the first place. It wasn't until the strange men had showed up and tried to stop her from meeting him that she'd been absolutely certain that Jason had to know what was going on. "But if anyone can find me a lead, it's you."

"I'll need to know everything you do," he said, with a slight sigh that told her he wasn't happy about doing this. She knew he wasn't the best of friends with Giovanni, so she sympathized, but she was glad he was willing to put forth the effort for her sake. "I need to know the last time you saw him, his work schedule, his friends, his colleagues, any enemies he may have had, or projects he might have been working on."

She dug a computer disk out of her purse and set it on the table. "I thought of that already. I started writing it all down to see if I could make any sense of his disappearance. I couldn't see any connections, but maybe you'll pick up on something I didn't."

He nodded slightly and pocketed the disk, his expression thoughtful. "I'll look into it, and let you know if I find anything."

"Thank you. You have no idea how much I appreciate this."

"So, now that you've convinced me to help you out, what are your plans now?"

"I don't know. I'll go back home, I guess." And triple-check that all the doors and windows were locked before staying up all night anyway.

"All right, then. Come on. I'll walk you to your car."

She smiled. "Why do I get the feeling you're going to help me check for monsters in the closet, too?"

"You know me so well."

They exited the coffee shop without incident; the street outside was quiet and mostly empty. "Where'd you park?" Jason asked after the door closed behind them.

"About a block down," she admitted, indicating to the right. "Parked in a bar's lot. Didn't want anyone to find my car and figure out where I was."

"My car's in the side lot here," he told her. "We'll go to your car together, then you can drive me back here and I'll follow you back to your house. And yes, I'm going to check for monsters in the closets and under the bed before I go home and get started on those lists you gave me."

She managed to laugh a little at that, but then the streetlight directly beside them suddenly went out and she got a sinking feeling that the night was going to end as smoothly as Jason had planned. Dark, vaguely human shapes loomed silently out of the darkness around them a moment later, and Trini felt a chill go down her spine. Even in the gloom, she knew these were the same men from before – only there were more of them. A lot more.

And something else was different, too. She could see a yellowish glow shining from behind their dark glasses.

"Okay," Trini said, bracing herself for impending battle, "I take back the part where I said they were human."


	3. Chapter 3

"On second thought," Jason decided. "Let's just take my car."

He wasn't normally one to back down from a fight, but he did not like these odds or the fact that the attackers did not seem to be normal humans. So instead of sticking around to find out just how strong these guys were, he grabbed Trini and sprinted for the cafe's side parking lot.

"How many are there?" Trini asked breathlessly, glancing back over her shoulder as he pulled her along.

Jason tried to dig his keys out of his pocket without slowing down. "I don't know. I counted at least eight. There could be more."

By the time they reached his car, a fairly expensive red sports car that had the added benefit of being instantly recognizable, he had managed to get his keys into his hand. Unfortunately, he had been wrong in thinking that reaching the car meant they would be home free. There were three more goons waiting for them just beyond where he'd parked. They must have come around the building from the back.

Trini shook herself free of his grip and dropped into a fighting stance. Jason tossed her his keys. She caught them easily and looked at him with wide eyes.

"Get in the car," he told her. "And go. I'll try to hold them off long enough for you to get away."

"Jason..."

He wished she would just understand without questioning him. These guys, who or whatever they were, were after her. If she got away, he might have a better shot at surviving. And if not, then at least he would know she'd escaped.

"I'm not going to leave you," she protested.

The three men were coming closer, while the rest of their friends couldn't be far behind.

"You may not have a choice," he commented.

She didn't look happy about that, but by now she knew he was right. Grimacing, she bolted for the car while he charged headlong at the three men.

The sudden attack seemed to catch them off guard for a moment. If nothing else, they hesitated long enough to let Trini get the car unlocked and hurl herself inside.

Knowing that she was at least momentarily out of the line of fire, Jason could focus more of his attention on his own fight. He was outnumbered, but that didn't intimidate him in the slightest. He'd spent a good portion of his life fighting large groups of enemies as a Power Ranger. The only difference now was that he couldn't morph if the going got rough.

He was confident that he could take these three down. The question now was, could he do it before their friends caught up and turned the odds in their favor?

Time seemed to slow to a crawl as adrenaline and his fighter's instincts kicked in. He incapacitated his first target in a matter of seconds, delivering a quick and precisely aimed blow intended to knock the man out. That man went down like a stone, and Jason hoped he would stay down. If he was really a human, he should, but there was no guarantee he was dealing with human opponents here.

If his remaining opponents were like the first, this wouldn't be the worst fight he'd ever been in, but once their reinforcements arrived it might come close. He pivoted slightly to put the other two men in front of him and heard his car's engine come to life.

The sound spurred him on, but seeing how easily he had taken care of their comrade had made the remaining two thugs wary. They knew better than to let him get close now, but they were in no hurry to back off, either. Ordinarily Jason would have switched to focusing on defense, but he wanted to get these guys as far away from Trini as possible, so he kept pushing them backward and away from his car.

He knew it was only a matter of time before they stopped evading and switched to offense, and he saw the attack coming a heartbeat before the men actually moved toward him. He dodged the punch from the man to his left and parried the kick from the second. As he focused on wearing down the second man, he listened for any sound of approach from the other men. They should be catching up soon. He probably had a few more seconds, at most.

With that in mind, he launched into a series of rapidfire attacks that let him continue to work at man-number-two while keeping number one at bay. Unfortunately, they both kept up with him easily and even began to push him backward. Frustrated, and knowing that they were trying to back him up to where their friends were apparently waiting, Jason did not stop to wonder why the rest of the goons hadn't jumped him yet. Instead he struggled to regain some measure of control over the fight. If he could just land a decisive blow against one opponent or the other, then he would have the advantage again... And once these two were down, he would worry about their friends.

He blocked a punch from the man on his left and attempted to block the simultaneous attack from the second, but it turned out the second guy had only feinted. He lashed out as soon as Jason followed through on a parry, delivering a solid kick to Jason's gut as soon as there was the slightest opening.

Jason stumbled backward a couple of steps, reeling. In that instant, he knew he'd blown his chance of winning this battle. In a second or two, he was sure both of these goons and all of their friends would be pummelling him.

Only that wasn't what happened at all.

Accompanied by the smell of burned rubber, the screech of tires, and a sickening crunch, both of his remaining opponents went down at once. No real surprise, since Trini had floored it as soon as she backed his car out of its parking spot. In the heat of battle, it was a miracle she'd managed to only hit the bad guys. A foot more to her left, or if she'd been a second or two faster, and she would have taken him down, too.

Even though he'd escaped unharmed, Jason winced at the sight of the several large dents in the car's bumper and hood.

The driver side window rolled down and Trini stuck her head out. "Come on, hurry up!"

Seeing the wisdom in her plan, Jason gave up fighting and worrying about the damage to his car. The driver's side was closest to him, and Trini climbed into the passenger seat so he wouldn't have to waste time going around.

He only paused long enough to buckle in, then got them the hell out of there. As he guided the car out the parking lot's back driveway and down the street as fast as he could without drawing too much attention to them, he watched in the rearview mirror as the group of strange men gathered in the road behind him. The sight of so many dark figures, with their faintly glowing eyes, was unnerving.

There was no sign of any pursuit from the strange men, but he drove around at random for almost half an hour just to be sure they weren't being followed. It was quiet in the car except for the sound of the radio. Beside him, Trini was shaking, almost more than she had the first time they'd fought a group of Putties, back when they had first become Power Rangers. He didn't know what to say to comfort her.

Finally he pulled into the parking lot of a convenience store and let the car idle for a few minutes.

"I'm going to take a wild guess and say that it's probably not safe to take you back to your house tonight," he said.

Trini stared at her lap. "No." She sighed, then looked over at him. "And your apartment is only going to be 'safe' until they figure out who you are and where you live. I should never have dragged you into this."

He would never have forgiven her if this had happened and she hadn't bothered to tell him until after the fact. "Too late for that now. We're in this together."

She nodded. "Yeah."

"So what's the plan?"

She had always been better with strategy than he had, but now she seemed almost too shaken to think clearly. "I don't know, Jason. I don't..."

"Okay. Let's try my apartment then. If we don't run into any more trouble, we can hole up there for the night. I'll make a few calls and see if I can dig up any more clues." He did not say it, but they both knew that they probably did not have much time to get to the bottom of this.

She thought about that for a moment, and he knew she was once again regretting her decision to get him involved, but in the end she relented. "Okay."


	4. Chapter 4

The building was silent and there was no sign of pursuit, but Trini was still nervous when Jason locked them into his apartment. She was pretty sure that if those strange men - or whatever they really were - wanted her, they were going to get her whether or not there was a deadbolt between them. Still, she appreciated that Jason was trying to protect her. She knew he would do everything in his power to keep her safe; that was why she'd come to him in the first place.

When he had made sure the apartment was empty except for the two of them, he said, "You can go ahead and use the bedroom tonight if you want."

"You sure?"

He shrugged. "I'm gonna be up for a while anyway. I'll just take the couch."

She didn't think she would be getting much sleep either, but she knew better than to argue once Jason got an idea in his head. "Okay."

While he booted up his computer and got himself organized, Trini wandered down the short hallway and peeked into the bedroom. It was more or less clean, which was somewhat surprising. Jason wasn't a slob, but he usually had other things on his mind than organization or cleaning up. "Hey, Jase..."

"There are clean sheets in the bathroom closet," he said from the other room.

He was close, but not quite on the mark. She had been planning to hunt for clean sheets on her own a little later. "Actually I was wondering if it was okay if I used your shower." After the day she'd had, she felt in dire need of a hot shower and lots of soap.

"Yeah, go ahead."

He sounded distracted, so she poked her head into the living room to see what he was up to. He was seated at the computer desk, already poring over the lists of information she had compiled for him. She backed away quietly, heading for the bathroom and trying to ignore the way the knot in her stomach just seemed to be growing tighter and tighter. She hoped that he would somehow be able to find something that she had missed, anything that might lead her to Giovanni or explain why there were strange, not quite human men hunting her down.

A shower had sounded like a good idea at first, but when she found herself alone and relatively safe, with the hot water to hide her tears, she couldn't seem to stop crying. For five years, everything had been going perfectly. She'd been on her way to a successful career, she'd been engaged to a man she adored... and now it was all falling apart and there might not be anything she could do to stop it.

After what seemed like an eternity, the tears subsided and she was able to get herself cleaned up and feeling more or less composed again. She stared at herself in the misty mirror on the wall above the sink, at the feelings written clearly across her face, at her wet, bedraggled hair. Determined to believe her own words, she said aloud, "Get it together, Trini. Jason's going to help you. You're going to figure this out."

Doing her best not to let the doubt and fear come slinking back in, she finished drying off and getting dressed and returned to the living room, where Jason was apparently still working on going through her files.

"Thank you, I feel much better now," she said, although she didn't, not really. She still felt sick and confused, but those feelings were a bit more distant than they had been before her shower. She didn't want to be too pushy or set her expectations too high, but she couldn't help asking, "Any luck yet?"

"I called some people -"

"That was fast."

"But it's going to take a while to find anything out. Honestly, the only thing that might be a lead is this last job you listed here, the one without any information. You really don't know anything about what he's been doing for the past six months?"

"It's just some sort of research position, or at least that's what he told me. Something on the cutting edge... he was so excited about it, but he couldn't give me any specifics yet. You don't think it could have something to do with his disappearance, do you? What could he have been researching that would..."

"It may not have anything to do with his disappearance," Jason assured her. "But if it's okay with you, I'm going to look into it anyway."

She nodded, suddenly afraid that the person, or persons, responsible for Giovanni's disappearance might be someone she knew. Or worse, someone she trusted. "So what's the plan?"

"I don't know yet, honestly. Lie low until we get some more info, I guess. I'm on duty tomorrow. You can come to the precinct if you want," he offered. "Might be safer there."

She shook her head. "You saw those men, Jase. Whatever they were, they weren't human. I can't drag innocent people into something like that."

"They're not just innocent people, Trini, they're -"

"I know," she said, placating. "But they don't have our level of experience with things like this."

"Fair enough. But if you don't come with me, I want you to stay here."

"Okay." It wasn't as if she felt particularly safe anywhere else, anyway.

"Try to keep quiet. Stay away from windows. And I know I don't need to tell you this, but I'm going to say it anyway: don't open that door for anyone that isn't me."

She nodded.

"Now go get some rest. If I find anything important, you'll be the first to know."

"Do you mind if I stay out here a while?" she asked. "I just... don't really want to be by myself right now."

He turned to look at her, his eyes filled with concern. "Sure. Just let me know if you need anything."

She nodded and took a seat on the couch. After a few minutes, she couldn't stand the quiet anymore, so she turned the television on, but she ended up just staring at the screen without really watching anything. As much as she wanted to let it go and get some rest, she couldn't stop thinking about what had happened - and almost happened - earlier that night. She couldn't stop fearing that she and Giovanni and now Jason were already caught in some sort of horrible trap that they could never hope to escape.

It was past three in the morning when Trini finally turned the TV off, wandered into the bedroom, and collapsed onto Jason's bed. Feeling almost numb, and too drained to care that she had forgotten to change the sheets after all, she pulled the blankets up around her and tried to will herself to sleep. Not for the first time since his disappearance, she wished Giovanni could be with her, if only to hold her and tell her everything would be okay.

She must have slept eventually, because when she woke up late morning light was filtering in through the room's single window. By the time she managed to drag herself out of bed, Jason was already gone, so the apartment was quiet. There was a note on the kitchen counter telling her to help herself to anything she wanted from the kitchen and reminding her that she should call him the moment she even so much as suspected something might be up.

She made herself breakfast and had just finished washing the dishes afterward when someone knocked on the door. She froze where she was and listened, but just when she thought she might be in the clear the knocking came again, more forcefully this time.

Finally: "I know you're in there."

Trini felt like her heart had stopped beating. Recovering herself, she crept silently over to the door and risked a glance through the peep hole.

Jason's warning about not opening the door flitted through her head and though under ordinary circumstances she would have obeyed, she unlocked the door and flung it open. "Giovanni!" she gasped, shocked at finding herself face to face with her missing fiance. "Where have you been? What's going on?" She trailed off in horror upon realizing that Giovanni was not alone. Two goons, with their long coats and dark glasses and not-quite-human looks, were with him, standing just out of sight from the apartment's peep hole.

"I need you to come with me," Giovanni said.

"I can't," she protested, taking a step back. "Gio, are you in some kind of trouble? Because I can help you. I don't care what it is..."

"I'm not in any trouble," he promised. "But I need you to come with me. And I need you to trust me."

Trusting him sounded like the last thing she should do right now, but this was Giovanni. He was the man she loved, the man she was going to marry, and a part of her desperately wanted to be with him and for everything to be okay. She did not shut the door. "Tell me what's going on first."

"I don't have time to explain right now," he said.

"I'm not going anywhere until I know who these men are and why they've been trying to kidnap me."

"There's no time for that now," he insisted.

"Then I'm sorry," she said. "I can't help you."

"I'm sorry, too," he said, his expression darkening with something that might have been regret... or pity.

She sensed the attack an instant before it came, and managed to duck out of reach as Giovanni's two goons lunged for her. Rather than back up and give them a chance to corner her in Jason's apartment, she dove into the hallway and slammed right into Giovanni. He wrapped his arms around her in a bear-hug and held tight, but she knew she was stronger than he was. All she had to do was break away and she would have a fighting chance.

She thought she had her opening when he loosened his grip a second later, but he'd only let her go so he could grab a cloth from his coat pocket. He pressed it over her mouth and nose, fingers digging in awkwardly as he struggled to hold onto her. She smelled the drug a breath too late. "Gio, why?" she asked as the world began to spin and waver around her.

He released her and watched silently as she stumbled two more steps down the hall and collapsed onto the floor. When she failed to pick herself back up, Giovanni strode over to kneel beside her, pressing the drugged cloth over her face again until her vision started to fade.

The last thing she heard before blacking out was Giovanni saying, "Bring her. We don't have much time."


	5. Chapter 5

By the time Jason reached the floor his apartment was on, it was all he could do not to run down the hallway and make sure everything was okay. He hadn't heard from Trini all day, and that was enough to make him suspicious. Life was never that easy; he just couldn't believe that she had spent the whole day safe and sound in his apartment. Not after what he'd seen yesterday.

Even though he thought he had prepared himself for the worst, he still felt his heart drop as soon as he reached his apartment. The door was unlocked.

"Damn it!" he muttered, throwing the door open.

He'd been expecting to find the place torn up, since he'd kept all of Trini's information with him rather than risk leaving it behind, but the apartment was just as he'd left it in the morning. Everything was neatly in its place, except that Trini was nowhere to be found.

He did a quick but thorough check of the apartment, but there was nothing. No note, no clue, not the slightest indication of where she might have gone.

"Damn you, Giovanni Beaumont," he growled. He had no proof that Giovanni himself was behind Trini's disappearance, of course, but he knew there was no one else Trini would have opened that door for. And since there was no sign of tampering at the door or any of the apartment's windows, that meant Trini had opened the door - and put herself at risk - willingly. Or else she had departed on her own, and there was only one person she'd have done that for, too: Giovanni.

"I don't know what you're up to, but I'm going to find out."

Reining in his anger and frustration for the moment, he noted that the light on the phone on his desk was blinking: someone had left him a message. Hoping against hope that the message might at least hold a clue to Trini's whereabouts, he keyed in the voicemail access code.

"Hey, Jason. It's Matt," the recording began. "I'm calling with regard to the information you wanted me to dig up. Turns out there's no record that this research program you're looking for ever existed. I don't know what this friend of yours told you, but whatever it was, it wasn't true. Hope that helps. Give me a call if you need anything else."

Jason hung up, resisting the urge to break the phone out of sheer frustration. As tempting as it was, he knew that letting anger control him would do him - and Trini - no good. And at least the call had given him new information, even if it wasn't the information he'd wanted.

It had raised red flags last night when Trini told him that Giovanni had been unwilling to discuss his latest "research" position with her, but Jason had opted not to mention his suspicions to her, not wanting to upset her further or push her away by implying that her fiance might be up to no good. Too bad the confirmation of his fears came too late to keep her safe.

While his instincts told him to rush out and search for her, or let his friends on the police force know what was happening, he knew he had no leads at all and no chance at all of finding her if he did anything rash. And besides, with the likely culprits not being human, getting the police involved might be dangerous - for them. So he tried as best he could to keep his head clear, because he also knew that time was of the essence, and focused his energy on going through his small list of clues again. If Giovanni was behind this - and Jason was all but positive that he was - then finding him would mean finding Trini.

And Jason suspected he knew just where to start looking. The mysterious research program Giovanni had told Trini he was working with might not exist, but Jason was willing to bet Giovanni would have told Trini as much of the truth as he could. So the program itself wasn't real, but Giovanni was very likely working with someone, or some other program, within the same university. Jason didn't like having so little to go on, but at least it was better than nothing.

As he went back over the notes Trini had given him, searching for anything he might have missed, he began to form a plan. Tomorrow he would head over to the university that was supposed to be funding Giovanni's phoney research program and start poking around. He would see if he could find a contact, or anyone that was willing to give him a little more information, and see where he could go from there. With any luck, he would find a new lead that would help him find Trini before it was too late.

But he was all too aware of how lucky he had been lately: not very. And bad planning and conjecturing were doing nothing to make him feel better. No matter what plan of action he tried to sort out, and no matter how much he tried to stay positive, his thoughts always seemed to circle back to the same damning truth: _I should never have left her here alone._

He'd let her down.

He'd failed her.

But he'd _trusted_ Trini. He had always trusted her, even back when they were kids attending their first martial arts classes together. She could handle herself in a tough situation. She wasn't the kind of girl that needed rescuing, and she never had been. He knew that better than anybody. It was the only reason he'd agreed to let her stay behind while he was working. Except... in the end, the one time she couldn't handle things herself, he hadn't been there to help her.

Even if he managed to find her somehow, even if he got her back safe and sound, he wasn't sure he would ever forgive himself for allowing her to be taken in the first place. But the first step was getting Trini back. And taking care of Giovanni once and for all.

Then maybe he'd think about finding a way to forgive himself.


	6. Chapter 6

Trini drifted back to consciousness in fits and starts. By the time she finally woke up for good, she had a strong suspicion that she was being drugged in the long term, a suspicion that was confirmed as soon as she was able to open her eyes. She had not known what to expect, as her last memory was of Giovanni drugging her in the hallway of Jason's apartment building, but it did not surprise her too much to find herself in a hospital room.

Steady electronic beeping from somewhere to her left let her know she was being monitored, but she did not see any windows or any sign of what time it might be. She tried to sit up, but her body was still mostly numb and would not respond to her will.

So for a while she lay still on her hospital bed and went over what she could remember. She remembered Giovanni disappearing, being attacked outside her home, turning to Jason for help... Giovanni showing up out of nowhere and kidnapping her. By then, she couldn't take it anymore. With shaking arms, she pushed herself upright and began systematically pulling off the myriad wires and tubes that had been connected to her. She had no idea what they were for, but she wanted out of this place. Now.

An alarm sounded when she removed a series of electrodes from her chest - some sort of heart monitor? - but she kept working anyway. By the time someone showed up to check on her, she had finished removing the last of the wires and was in the process of investigating her room. She wasn't sure what troubled her more: that the door had been locked from the outside, or that the medical getup was like nothing she had ever seen before.

The loud click of the door unlocking put a stop to her horrified suspicions for a moment. And then all of the fear and anger came crashing back down on her as Giovanni stepped into the room and closed the door behind him.

"Ah, you're awake," he began.

"You sound surprised."

"You weren't supposed to wake up yet," he admitted.

"When _was_ I supposed to wake up, Gio?" she demanded, unable to hide her anger. "Why did you kidnap me?"

"Trini," he said gently, "I didn't have a choice. I needed to know you were safe."

She found that difficult to believe. "And I'm 'safe' here. Where is here, exactly? What _is_ all of this?" She gestured at the array of strange machinery that lined the far wall, the source of the beeps she had heard earlier and the screeching alarm that was still whining.

"I can't tell you that. No one can know that you're here," Giovanni groused as he crossed the room to silence the machines.

Trini followed him with her gaze, unwilling to turn her back on him. She felt horribly self-conscious and defenseless in her hospital gown. "Tell me what's going on," she said when the alarm finally stopped sounding.

"You shouldn't be out of bed yet," he murmured gently. She stared him down. "Trini, at least sit down."

The last thing she wanted to do was go anywhere near that bed again, but she did as he asked. When she was seated again and he looked slightly less alarmed, she said, "Now tell me."

"What would you say if I told you we're not alone?"

"Meaning?"

"That alien life forms have come to Earth..."

"Gio, I've lived in Angel Grove since I was a kid. We've had to deal with alien invaders for years, that's why we had the Power Rangers. Of course 'we're not alone'."

"I don't mean life forms like that. I mean an invasion so insidious that the human race has already been infiltrated and is in immediate danger of destruction."

"An invasion on that kind of scale... Logistically, it's just not possible."

"I'm telling you now, Trini, it is possible. And it's happening right now. That's why I had to make sure you were safe."

For a moment, she feared he had lost his mind completely. For all she knew, he'd simply created this hospital dungeon somewhere to keep her as his prisoner, though she had no idea why he would do such a thing. But since he seemed willing to talk, at least for the moment, she pressed, "How can you possibly know that?"

"Because I'm helping them."

Trini's blood ran cold. "You're helping them?"

"Yes."

While she struggled to come up with a suitable response, he went on. "It was the only way to make sure I was safe. To make sure you were safe."

"Safe from what?" she managed to ask. This was dangerous territory; no matter how much she cared for him, she knew she could not explain why she was so sure she would be okay in the case of sudden alien invasion.

"From the Entuar."

She could guess what he meant by that, but she wanted to keep him talking. "Entuar?"

He came over to sit next to her on the bed then. "The Entuar. The aliens that have come to Earth. They mean to take over the planet and enslave the entire human population." He grimaced slightly. "I don't have much time to explain before they will notice that I'm missing, but they've constructed a mind control device that functions on an unbelievable scale. I believe that they will soon have the capability of brainwashing most or all of the human populace all at once."

She couldn't help it; she stared at him. If he was telling the truth, this was like no other invasion Earth had survived in the past.

"That's why I had to get to you," Giovanni murmured softly. "I helped them create the device. I know how to counteract it. And with the implant I gave you, you'll be immune to the device's effects."

She barely heard that last part. 'You'll be immune' was lost in a sea of horrified outrage. "You _operated_ on me?"

He stood again, backing off as if he might be afraid that she would lash out. But when she did not move except to feel gingerly at the back of her neck, where she had only just now really noticed the wadded bandages, he relaxed. He cupped her head gently in both hands and bent down to kiss her forehead. "Yes. But only because I had no choice. But now you have the implant. Now you're safe from the device. They'll never be able to control you."

Trini's thoughts raced uncontrollably, and she could feel terror growing in her heart. Alien invasions she could deal with, but nonconsensual operations? She was shaking; it took her a moment to realize it was from anger as much as fear.

But even as she was tempted to let her anger show, to let him know exactly what she thought of his 'noble' efforts to keep her safe, she knew this was her best opportunity for escape. He'd finally let his guard down. He'd approached her, and she'd let him get close. She did not have to fake the anguish when she murmured, "Oh, Giovanni," and let him pull her up and into his arms.

"I'm sorry," she whispered into his ear. Moving as quickly as she could, she ducked out of his grasp and slipped behind him. A few moments and a well-applied chokehold later, Giovanni was sprawled unconscious across the bed.

Working methodically because she knew time was of the essence now, she robbed him of his long white lab coat, his wallet, and several cards that looked suspiciously like security clearance cards. The lab coat was far too big for her, but it made her feel less naked than the hospital gown alone. As soon as she was ready, she cracked the door to her room open and peered carefully outside.

She had been expecting a fight, but the hallway outside was empty. It looked innocent enough, like any other hallway in an administrative building or office, but there were no windows anywhere. And there hadn't been any in her room, either. Realizing that she was most likely underground, she fought off a growing feeling of claustrophobia.

The hall looked much the same to her right as to her left, so she picked a direction at random and started walking. After a couple of security checkpoints, where the cards she'd stolen from Giovanni really did come in handy, she finally found herself in a stairwell that led up. There were windows near the top, and the light that streamed in from them looked natural.

She hurried up to the top only to discover that this part of the building was guarded by several of the same humanoid creatures that had been escorting Giovanni when he kidnapped her. Knowing that they already knew she was there, she made a quick assessment of the situation. There were two of them and only one of her, but she knew how to hold her own in a fight against uneven odds. And better yet, just past where they were standing was a set of double-doors that looked as if it must lead somewhere important.

Her heart felt like it had leapt up into her throat as she climbed up onto the landing where the guards stood. But they made no move to apprehend her or attack her as she approached. They simply watched with their glowing eyes as she crept nervously past them, and yet she could not help but think that they might pounce at any moment, up until the moment the double doors clicked shut behind her.

And then the guards were momentarily forgotten as she emerged into an enormous empty room. The dusty, industrial look told her it must be some kind of warehouse. There was a large set of doors at the far end, near what looked to be a little-used loading dock, which miraculously turned out not to be locked. Hardly daring to believe her luck, Trini stumbled outside into the late afternoon sun and found herself in a part of town she recognized. This place was not far from the docks. It alarmed her to see that there was no one at all around, because that meant it was probably Sunday, and she had been Giovanni's prisoner for several days at the least.

Giovanni could not have known it - no one could - but Trini knew this part of town better than she had any right to. Rather than wandering at random, lost, she headed directly away from the docks and warehouses, toward the more residential side of town. There, she would find other people, and the very thought had her first jogging and then outright running, despite the pain of her bare feet hitting the uneven pavement.

She kept running until she had left the docks far behind. Only then did she slow down enough to catch her breath and look around. As frustrating as it was, on top of everything else that had happened today, now she had to hope she could find someone willing to help her in spite of her unfortunate attire. She had no money for a pay phone if she could even find one, so she had to hope for someone willing to call the police on her behalf, or who would allow her to call a friend. Ordinarily she would have hesitated to involve the police, but police involvement meant Jason would hopefully find her.

And all she wanted now was for Jason to find her, and make sure Giovanni could never take her again.


	7. Chapter 7

When the phone rang, Jason almost didn't bother to answer it. The number on the caller ID wasn't one he was familiar with, and he figured if it was important the caller would leave a message. But at the last second he changed his mind and answered anyway. "Hello?"

"Jason! Oh thank God, I thought I was never going to get a hold of you..."

He almost dropped the phone in his surprise. "Trini?"

"Yeah." She sounded exhausted. "Giovanni finally screwed up and I got away... It's a long story. Can you come get me? Please?" And now she sounded like she was crying, or would be soon.

"I'll be there as soon as I can. Just tell me where you are."

After she gave him the address, he only stopped to lock up the apartment behind him before he was on his way. The address led him clear across town, not far from the docks, to a small hole-in-the wall coffee shop near the downtown shopping district. He entered cautiously, only to find Trini seated at one of the few small tables, gripping a coffee mug with both hands and talking quietly with an elderly woman who must have been the shop's proprietor.

"Jason!" she said, looking up when he came in.

He wanted to ask her a million questions, starting with 'what happened' and 'where have you been', but she got up from her seat at the table and met him halfway as he made his way over. He had time to notice with alarm that she was wearing a lab coat over a hospital gown before she all but flung herself into his arms.

He returned the hug gratefully, letting relief wash over him. She'd been gone for so long and, well, he knew what the odds were of finding a kidnapping victim alive after the first twenty-four hours. "I thought I'd never see you again," he murmured into her hair.

She leaned into him a little more, then stepped back to look at him with eyes wide with lingering fear. "He was... he was drugging me." There were tears in her eyes. He realized she was trembling, and ushered her back to the table she had been sitting at when he came in. She sank gratefully into her chair, looking utterly lost. Concerned, Jason pulled over a chair from the next table over and took a seat next to her.

"I don't think," she went on, "if I hadn't woken up ahead of schedule today, that I'd have ever escaped."

"Is that why you're wearing -?" He gestured to her strange assortment of clothing.

She nodded. "He's got some sort of facility under one of the warehouses near the docks. I don't know what the main purpose of the place is, though I can guess, but he had me in a hospital room there. He was monitoring me for something." She shook her head. "I don't want to talk about it right now."

"Honey, I think you better get to the police and file a report," the old woman interjected gently.

Trini smiled weakly. "This is Jason Lee Scott," she said. "The detective I told you about."

"Good," the woman said, sizing him up. She had remained silent until now but she had a fierce, no-nonsense gaze that made him glad he was one of the good guys. When she seemed satisfied, she added, "Now you keep her safe this time, until she can get this fiasco with her fiance sorted out! This doesn't sound like the kind of thing you should mess around with."

Jason nodded. "I will, and it's not."

They stayed at the coffee shop for a while longer. Neither of them said much; Trini seemed content for now to stare into the depths of her mug, and the shop's proprietor eventually got up and busied herself with cleaning the sales counter at the back of the shop rather than hovering near her two customers. Jason was impatient to get going, but he could tell the soothing atmosphere was helping Trini stay calm and that made him reluctant to leave. While Trini slowly finished her tea, his thoughts raced ahead.

If Trini had escaped on foot, it almost certainly wouldn't be long before Giovanni or his associates found this place. Jason wasn't sure how much longer they would be safe here, and he didn't want to put the shop's owner at risk after she'd been kind enough to take Trini in and help her with no questions asked. But even though he wanted to, he didn't push. He had no doubt that Trini was every bit as aware of the situation as he was. Maybe even more so. And so, impatient as he was, he wouldn't budge until she was good and ready to go.

Maybe half an hour after Jason first arrived at the coffee shop, Trini set down her now-empty mug and sighed. "We should go," she said quietly.

"Are you sure?"

She nodded. "I'm not sure how long it'll be safe to stay here," she admitted. "I don't think Giovanni's goons are going to come after me again... but I'm not sure about that, either." Seeing that he did not believe her, she added, "After I got away from Giovanni, they just stood there and let me go. I don't know why, or..." She shrugged.

"All right," he decided. "We'll go then."

After he paid for Trini's tea, giving the shop's owner a hefty tip and his heartfelt thanks, they made their way outside to where he had left his car. He let Trini in on the passenger side, then went around and got into the driver's seat himself. He did not start the car right away, just watched as Trini settled herself. He could still hardly believe she was there with him; it didn't seem real. It was like she'd come back from the dead...

"Jason?" She'd caught him staring.

"Tell me the truth," he said. "Are you okay?"

She was silent for a long time. Then: "No."

"Do you want to go file a report? Or go to the hospital?"

She shook her head no.

"Did he do anything to you?" he pressed. He hated to say it, but knew he had to ask. "Trini, if he raped you or assaulted you..."

"No," she interrupted vehemently. "It's nothing like that. He betrayed my trust by taking me as a prisoner and..." She trailed off, obviously deeply upset not only by what had happened, but by the implication of Jason's questions. "But he would _never_ do something like that to me."

"Then I don't understand."

She tilted her head forward and slightly to the side, using one hand to gently move her hair out of the way. Now he could see the thick wad of bandages at the nape of her neck. "Trini..."

"He operated on me, Jase. He implanted something into my head. That's why he was keeping me drugged and unconscious."

"He... why in the world would he -"

She did not answer. More accurately, she could not answer. Whatever shreds of determination and self-control had been keeping her together until now had finally given way to intense sobbing. He felt a twinge of regret at having pushed her too hard.

In Jason's book, there was nothing on earth more alarming and frustrating than seeing Trini cry. Unlike Kimberly, who had been known to use tears to get her way, Trini seldom let her tears show. And when she did it was as if all knowledge and understanding went right out of his head, leaving him perfectly aware that something must be done, but with no idea of what that something might be, only that he must somehow set things right. Only this time, he wasn't sure he _could_ set things right.

After struggling for several minutes to get a handle on herself, she turned to him and managed to say, "I'm sorry."

He shook his head. After everything she'd been through, _she_ was the one apologizing? If anyone should be apologizing, it was Giovanni... "Just breathe," he murmured. "It'll be okay."

She shook her head violently. He knew there was more to it than what she had told him so far - and what she had just showed him - but he couldn't imagine that it could possibly be that bad. They had faced alien threats before. He had no doubt that they would find a way through this somehow, but he had no idea how to tell her that. "Trini..."

"Please," she said miserably, "just take me home."


	8. Chapter 8

Trini had no real idea how she found her way back to Jason's apartment, though logic told her he had brought her there when she asked to go home, but that was where she was when she finally became aware of her surroundings again. Everything had become a dull, miserable blur. Grief had consumed her - and was still consuming her - as the loss of Giovanni finally began to truly sink in, so much that she had barely noticed the passing of time.

He'd been the love of her life; how could she have misjudged him so terribly?

She was mourning for him as if he had already died, she realized, and felt surprisingly numb about it. Moving on from that for the first time in - how many days had it been? She wasn't entirely sure - Trini took stock of her situation.

She was not wearing the hospital gown and lab coat she had been wearing when she escaped from Giovanni's facility. Instead, she was wearing a cozy set of pajamas, her long-time favorite, decorated in a pattern of pink and yellow flowers. Looking at herself, she felt a twinge of embarrassment. Had Jason dressed her, or had she done it herself and simply, in her grief, forgotten? She didn't remember changing her clothes, or even showering, after her escape, but now she felt a strong desire not only for food, but to be clean.

In the end, hunger won out.

She crept out of Jason's bedroom, feeling queasy and self-conscious but determined. Giovanni might have betrayed everyone on Earth, but she was not about to let grief for her failed relationship prevent her from doing everything she could to make sure his plan, whatever that truly was, did not succeed. And that meant no more hiding, no more crying. She would drag herself out of bed. Put one foot in front of the other. She would eat, and she would have a shower, and then she would start figuring out what in the world to do.

Jason was sitting at the small desk in the living room, going over something on the computer screen, when she walked in. He turned when he heard her approach, his face lighting up when he saw her. "How are you feeling?" he asked.

She took a deep breath to steady herself. "Better," she said, unwilling to lie to him. She was feeling better but not well. And she certainly was not happy. She still felt raw and bruised inside, and wondered if that feeling would ever go away or if she would spend the rest of her life regretting her decision to trust Giovanni - to love him.

"You need anything?" Jason asked, oblivious to her train of thought. "Want anything?"

Her stomach gurgled loudly. She gave him a sheepish look. "Got anything to eat?"

"Not really," he admitted. "You look like you could use a shower. Why don't you do that, and I'll take care of the food situation?"

She nodded and retreated to the bedroom again, this time locating a small duffel bag filled with a selection of her clothing that had been taken from her former home. She forced herself to keep moving, to make it to the bathroom without giving up and curling up in bed again, and to go through the motions of taking a shower and getting herself clean, even as her thoughts turned tumultuous again.

She couldn't seem to stop thinking about the house she'd shared with Giovanni. She'd fallen in love with that house, just like she'd fallen in love with Giovanni. There had been something about it that was inherently calming to her; it had been a sanctuary from the day they moved in. It had been _home_ for her in a profound way, her first permanent residence outside of her parents' home. And now her memories of that happy place were twisted by Giovanni's betrayal. It would never be home again.

She wondered if any place would ever feel like home again. She didn't think so. She certainly felt like enough of an intruder here in Jason's home.

By the time she had finished beating herself up for dragging Jason into her mess, she had finished her shower and gotten dressed. There was no reason to put off the inevitable for any longer, so she steeled herself and went into the living room again, and found that Jason had somehow managed to obtain food from her favorite Chinese restaurant. The small coffee table was covered with small packages of food, which smelled absolutely divine.

"Jase," she murmured, embarrassed, "You didn't have to do all this."

"I didn't," he admitted, looking a little amused. "Called in a favor a friend of mine owed me. It was this or pizza, really." He shrugged. "Now come on, dig in. You must be starving."

She suspected he had procured all her favorites just to make sure she would actually eat something, but she couldn't argue with the effectiveness of his strategy. She'd intended to discuss her escape from Giovanni with him, but found that she was so hungry that once she joined him on the couch and got started, she could do little but eat for several minutes. When she finally had eaten her fill, all she could think to say was, "Thank you."

He smiled. "I'm just glad you're up and about again."

She hated to ask, but she had to know. "How long was I... indisposed?"

"Couple days," he told her. "Since all you seemed to want to do was cry and sleep, I figured I better just let you get it out of your system."

In other words, he knew her well enough to know that barging in on her grief and demanding answers would have been counterproductive. She managed a weak smile. "Thanks."

"And when you're ready, I'd like to hear the real story."

She nodded. "We really need to talk about this thing with Giovanni." It made her stomach turn just to think about it again, but she knew time was of the essence. They had to talk about this. They had to get everything out in the open and figure out what their options were, and the sooner, the better.

But instead of agreeing with her, Jason just picked up the phone from its place on the side table and handed it to her. "We can talk later. Right now, I think you'd better call Kimberly."

She frowned. "You told Kimberly what's been going on?"

"I told everyone when you went missing, if that's what you mean."

Her frown deepened. "Jase, I appreciate you helping me... but I feel bad enough pulling _you_ into this. I... I don't want to get Kimberly or anyone else involved unless I have to."

"And that's why I told 'em things had gone south with you and Giovanni, and that you'd disappeared from my apartment while I was working." His tone softened. "I didn't mention anything about the goons, or Giovanni disappearing first. But Kimberly still insisted on stopping by while you were gone, to help me look. She'd still be here, but she couldn't stay any longer without risking her job."

While he was speaking, Trini suddenly did remember bits and pieces from the day he had brought her back here. He had told her to stay as long as she needed, and had mentioned that there was a bag of clothes for her in the bedroom. At the time she hadn't bothered to wonder where that bag had come from, but now she realized that Kimberly must have packed it for her and brought it over.

Trini stared at the phone in her hand and felt almost like crying all over again. "What did I ever do to deserve such wonderful friends?"

Jason took her hand in his and squeezed reassuringly. "Call Kim," he said. "I'll clean this up."

She nodded and retreated to the bedroom to make her call in relative privacy, but paused in the doorway. He noticed her hesitation and looked up expectantly. "Thank you, Jason," she said, doing her best imitation of a smile, because he deserved no less. "For everything."


	9. Chapter 9

Weeks passed and life began to settle into a new routine for Jason and Trini. She continued living in his apartment, commandeering his bedroom as she once weakly joked, though the two of them periodically made trips to her former home to pick up things she needed. Eventually, Jason went back to working more or less full time, trusting Trini to carry on her investigation without him. And although he lived in constant fear of coming home some night to find her gone again, neither of them saw any sign of Giovanni or the strange, almost human creatures that were his henchmen.

Jason found that he enjoyed having Trini around, even though it meant he'd been sleeping on the couch every night for a month now. He liked having someone to come home to at night, and she seemed to take great solace in his presence. The two of them hadn't been this close since Trini started dating Giovanni.

Sometimes it was easy to just enjoy the closeness of rekindled friendship, to forget that Trini's ex-fiance was out there somewhere, ready and waiting to cause more trouble. Jason wasn't sure he believed the things Giovanni had said, about a coming alien invasion, but Trini did. And she took them deadly seriously.

When she finally recovered from her escape, she began to go through the files she'd swiped from Giovanni's personal computer. Jason helped where he could, but didn't hold out much hope; he'd already pored over all the files during her absence, and all of his leads had turned out to be dead ends. But she was determined, and it gave her something to do other than dwell on her sadness and anger, so he let her give it her all and didn't say a word about it.

It went on like that long enough for Jason to become comfortable, and then Trini caught him totally off guard.

"I want to go back to the docks," she said one morning over coffee. Seeing the shock and disapproval he was trying so desperately to hide, she explained, "I want to find that place again."

She didn't need to elaborate. He knew exactly what she meant, and he thought it was a terrible idea. "Trini, hasn't he hurt you enough?" he asked, unable to stop himself.

Her eyes narrowed. She said nothing.

"The last time you saw Giovanni, he kidnapped you and implanted some sort of device into your head," he reminded her, as if he did not care that he was only digging himself a deeper grave.

"And we're never going to be able to stop him if we don't know where he's operating from. Jase, it's been almost a month." Her voice wavered ever so slightly, giving the lie to her strong words. "I'm ready for this. And besides, I can't just go back to the way things were, not when I know there's a threat out there and we may be the only two people on the planet, with the exception of Giovanni, who know about it."

Jason knew better than to voice the first response that came to him: _we're not Power Rangers anymore, Trini._ It was the last thing he had ever thought he would say. But if Giovanni really was allied with an alien invasion force… well, there were only two of them, with no superpowers, facing possibly hundreds or thousands of enemies. He had to be realistic.

While he struggled to come up with a response that wouldn't start a fight, she sighed. "I'm not talking about storming in and demanding answers. I just want to know where it is."

They both knew there was more to it than that, because Trini never planned fewer than three steps ahead, but Jason managed to hold his tongue. She was right, he knew. Even though the odds were low that Giovanni hadn't moved his base of operations after his failed attempt at making Trini his prisoner, someone would need to know where the place was eventually. It wouldn't do any harm, he hoped, to do a little poking around.

So when the next Sunday, a blustery, cloudy day, rolled around, they found themselves wandering around the docks, trying to appear as unobtrusive as possible while searching for anything that might look familiar to Trini.

"Do you really think we're going to find anything?" he asked, noting that the sun was beginning to set. Where had the day gone?

Trini sighed, her gaze dropping to the ground. "I don't know." She kicked a small rock that happened to be in her way.

He hated seeing her this way; Trini was usually unstoppable, but this was tripping her up. He supposed he wouldn't want to be in her position, facing the fact that the man she loved was a traitor to the entire planet and that there just might be an alien threat out there.

He slowed and, knowing he would probably regret it, asked, "Well, what do you want to do?"

Her expression was momentarily unreadable. "You're going to think it's a terrible idea, but I had hoped to find a way to contact Gio."

She was right. He did think it was a terrible idea. But all he could think to say was, "Why?"

"Because this isn't like him, Jason. He's a brilliant neuroscientist and one of the most talented surgeons in the world. But he's also sweet and gentle and kind. He doesn't… _kidnap people_ and…" She gestured futilely, at a loss for words.

Jason frowned. It sounded an awful lot like she was trying to find a way to justify what Giovanni had done. "Need I remind you that he operated on you without your permission, and we still don't know what he put into your head?"

She scowled at him, furious. She opened her mouth to speak, then closed it again.

Across the street, a door opened and a crowd of dark figures emerged. Very familiar dark figures, with glowing eyes. Without even looking for oncoming traffic, the creatures began to cross the street. Not that they really needed to look; except for the two investigators, the area was deserted and had been all day.

"Looks like we might not have any trouble finding Giovanni after all," Jason muttered. Beside him, Trini took a defensive stance. Jason followed suit. They were vastly outnumbered - as usual - and had nowhere to run, but they weren't going down without a fight. As their enemies raced toward them, at least they were in agreement on that.

They held their own long enough to surprise Jason, considering they were easily outnumbered six to one. Unfortunately, these guys didn't go down as easily as the Putties always had, and they were vicious, hitting hard and fast. Jason struggled to keep up and glanced around for Trini, only to see her crumple, unconscious, after one of the goons managed to strike her on the head.

Jason tried to get to her, but there were too many of the damned goons. One of them managed to catch hold of him, then another. From behind, a third pulled a hood over his face. Undeterred, he tried to shake them off.

"Keep fighting," said a strangely accented voice, "and the female will die."

He abruptly stopped struggling and held his hands up. If it meant saving Trini's life, then he would surrender. They seemed to understand, and prodded him along, guiding him first across the street and then into a building and a long, descending staircase. Jason lost track of how many times they turned and how many landings they crossed as they spiraled down into the earth, but it was several floors at least. Without his sight, he felt almost dizzy.

Finally they reached the bottom landing and from there proceeded down a long hallway. Jason thought he heard fewer footsteps, and wondered if the goons had split up and taken Trini to some other destination. He hoped not; the last thing he wanted right now was to be separated from her.

After what seemed like an eternity, he was guided to a stop and forced to his knees. He squinted for a moment as the hood was pulled from his head, finally allowing him to see again.

It took a moment for his eyes to adjust to the light, but at least now he could get a look around. He was now in a small, windowless room. The wall opposite him was occupied by an enormous computer console, like a high-tech version of something out of the '40s. There was no sign of Trini.

One of the goons stood to either side of him, gripping his arms and holding him immobile with immense, inhuman strength. He seethed at being on his knees, but did not think he had the strength to stand if his two captors wanted him to kneel. He struggled briefly, testing them, but they did not relent. If anything, they gripped harder, steely fingers digging into his arms.

A moment later a door clicked open to his left and Giovanni entered. He paused to gently close the door behind him before pacing over to stand in front of Jason.

"Whatever you think you're doing, Beaumont," Jason said, glaring, "you won't succeed."

Giovanni's lips curled into a smile.

"I am going to get out of here," Jason went on. "And I am going to save Trini from whatever you plan to do to her this time, and -"

"You did a marvelous job of saving her last time," Giovanni murmured.

Jason saw red. He almost managed to get away from the goons before they forced him back to his knees.

Giovanni waited until Jason had calmed. "It always comes down to Trini between us, doesn't it?" He paused a beat, but Jason did not give him the satisfaction of an answer. Absently, he went on, "You always acted as if you thought you deserved her more than I did, because you had known her longer, or because you were stronger or more macho than I was... Like no matter what I did, she'd be yours in the end." His eyes narrowed and he grew quiet. "I never could break that bond between you..." The confirmation that his suspicions had been correct all along had Jason bristling; Giovanni laughed. "You were right, of course." Suddenly sober, his eyes closed. "She'll never love me again after what I've done, or after what I am going to do now."

Jason stared at him, stony-faced and furious.

"You may not believe me, but I do regret that my actions, while necessary to ensure the survival of the human species, have cost me my place in her heart." Giovanni paused for a beat. "Trini is truly the most amazing woman I have ever met. But you knew that already."

Jason made no response. Talking would be pointless and distractions could be deadly.

"I know you will not believe me, but in spite of all our differences I do regret what I am about to do to you," Giovanni went on, speaking much more quietly. "But they have ears everywhere in this facility and I have been given orders. Even if I obey, I do not think I will survive much longer... Anyway, I swear to you that Trini has the ability to undo what I am about to do, and I do not doubt for a moment that she will see you safe."

Jason's brow furrowed in confusion. He was a prisoner, held fast and unable even to move. What more could Giovanni do to him, aside from ending his life or torturing him?

He got his answer a moment later, when Giovanni turned to the massive computer and flipped a switch to activate what Jason realized was the mind-control device Trini had told him about. But by then it was too late, and his consciousness was already fading.


	10. Chapter 10

Trini's ears were ringing. She groaned and rolled onto her back, but that only made it feel as if everything were spinning wildly out of control. Nausea roiled in her gut. She lurched upright, sure she would vomit, but the nauseated feeling and the vertigo faded a bit after a while. She hugged her knees to her chest and sat there, eyes closed and breathing hard, for a long time.

It must have been half an hour or more before her stomach finally calmed and her head stopped throbbing enough for her to risk opening her eyes. She was alone in a small room with concrete walls and a single, metal door. A bright fluorescent light illuminated everything from above. She didn't see anything that might be a camera. If she had to guess, she would wager she was in some section of Giovanni's underground complex. Again. And this time he didn't just have her. He had Jason, too.

She was about to try her luck at standing up when she noticed a small box on the ground beside her. It was the kind of box you would expect to find expensive jewelry in, but it was bound with plain twine and there was a plain paper tag attached. Her name was written on it in large, carefully formed letters. Giovanni's handwriting.

She scowled.

She almost didn't open it. But then curiosity got the better of her.

There was a note inside. It wasn't signed, but she knew it was from Giovanni.

All it said was, _This belongs to you - I hope that one day you can find it in your heart to forgive me._

She crumpled the paper in her hand and flung it away, furious.

Underneath the note was a watch with a thin band of yellow leather. Her favorite watch, the one that Zack had given her in Switzerland all those years ago. It had disappeared months ago, just before everything went weird and Giovanni went missing. She had assumed that she had misplaced it and would find it eventually, but clearly she'd been wrong.

Why in the world had Giovanni taken it? And why give it back to her now, like this?

Watching the hands circle around the clock's face only reminded her that time was running out. Someone was going to come for her, and soon. She would need to have a plan when they did. But what could she possibly hope to do? She couldn't rely on Giovanni's henchmen simply letting her go the way they had last time.

She heard footsteps outside the door and hurriedly put the watch on, tossing the box into the corner nearest the door and hoping it would go unnoticed. She was half expecting Giovanni to pay her a visit himself, but when the door swung open it was only a couple of his goons waiting for her on the other side. Trini stared them down, heart pounding and head throbbing all over again, and knew she was in no condition to fight them. Even if she did fight and somehow managed to get free again, she had no idea where to turn for help.

She did not resist as the two men - Entuar, Giovanni had called them - approached. They managed to indicate without words that they wanted her to get up and follow them. She obeyed, though more slowly than she would have liked.

 _I must have a concussion,_ she realized. It was the last thing she needed, a potentially debilitating injury in the middle of an extremely dangerous situation. She hoped Jason was in better shape than she was, and tried not to think of the possibility that he might be seriously wounded or even dead.

The silent Entuar led her down a long, concrete hallway, similar to the one she had seen during her previous escape. Near the end of the hall was a pair of large doors. The Entuar used some sort of key card to gain access, then ushered Trini through. Inside was a large room divided into two. Half of the room was walled off with what looked like glass; a large group of Entuar stood in that half of the room, watching.

Giovanni and Jason were waiting on the same side of the glass as Trini. She couldn't breathe. She could tell just from looking at them that something was terribly wrong. Jason's expression was blank, as if he hadn't even noticed her come in, and Giovanni… his face was grim and he wouldn't look at her.

"Gio," she said, her voice harsh in the silence. "What's going on?"

From behind the glass, one of the Entuar spoke. Its voice was deep and gravelly, and it spoke in a language Trini could not understand.

"Giovanni…" she repeated.

"They say it's over," he translated shakily. "They know what I've done, and this will be the end of it."

"What are you talking about?"

He just shook his head.

The Entuar voice spoke again, and this time Jason reacted. Trini shrieked in alarm as he ran at her, barely managing to duck and stumble out of the way of his first punch. He recovered more quickly than she did, following ruthlessly as she tried in vain to escape without having to fight him. If she wasn't injured, she might have had a chance of fighting him off. But with a concussion... her odds weren't good.

She couldn't risk looking to Giovanni to gauge his reaction, but she didn't need to. "It's the device I told you about," he said. He was trying to act calm, but she could hear the fear and heartbreak in his voice. He was afraid for her, and she knew him too well for deception. "He can't control himself. He has to do what they say. But it's only a prototype right now. It only works at short range, and I won't help them develop it any further."

Trini hardly heard what he was saying. She was too busy trying to keep away from Jason and keep an eye on the two Entuar guards that still lingered near the door. Jason followed her every move, looking for an opening. The guards did nothing to assist him or hinder her. She had no idea what they were waiting for.

"I've given you the key," Giovanni went on. Trini paused for a moment in confusion - _key?_ \- and that was all the opening Jason needed. She could not dodge the next kick that came at her. She had to engage or, she realized with increasing dread, die. She deflected the first kick and the next attack as best she could, backing up, looking for a way out.

She had sparred with Jason ever since they were kids, but this was different. This was life and death. And it terrified her.

"You can save him, and yourself," Giovanni said.

Ignoring him, Trini focused on Jason. They were such good friends, it was easy to forget just how dangerous he could be. In their sparring sessions, she knew how to stop him and could find ways to use his brute force against him, but in their sparring sessions he never really wanted to kill her. Now, she couldn't be so sure. She had no idea if he had been ordered to kill her, or just to attack. Either way, she wasn't taking chances. Her reaction times were already slower than normal, probably as a result of her head injury.

"All you have to do is trust me."

Her concentration shattered. "I can't!"

Jason grabbed her by the arm and hurled her to the ground. She rolled through it and came up on her feet, fighting a new wave of dizziness and whirling to intercept him as he came after her. Praying for luck to be on her side, she attacked in earnest. She met him blow for blow, then managed to land a spinning kick that sent him staggering. She followed through, but misjudged his reach.

He caught her by the wrist, crushing, and pulled her closer. This time she knew he wasn't going to let go until she was dead. Fueled by a sudden burst of adrenaline, she let him pull her in, then twisted and used the leverage against him to flip him over her shoulder to sprawl on his back on the floor. He released his grip when he hit the ground, but not before something in her arm pulled painfully.

All too aware that she only had a couple of seconds at best, knowing that she _had_ to incapacitate him, she lunged for Jason's throat.

A gunshot echoed through the room.

Trini braced herself for impact or pain, but the sensations never came. Bewildered, she looked up only to realize that the guards had not shot at her at all. They'd shot Giovanni.

She had no idea what kind of weapons the Entuar had, but there was no mistaking the blood flowing from the wound in his chest. For an instant she forgot about Jason, forgot about the Entuar and the threat to Earth. All she could think was, _This is the last time I'm going to see him._

He looked her in the eyes and said, "Go."

"How?" she demanded, choking back tears.

Jason was already recovering, and if she tried to escape there was nothing to stop the guards from shooting her the way they had Giovanni.

_"I've given you the key…"_

Trini frowned, recalling what Giovanni had said. The only thing he'd given her lately was her own watch…

She looked down at her wrist, becoming aware that the world seemed to have slowed down around her. The symptoms from her concussion had subsided, too. In her mind, that could mean only one thing. But she had to see it to believe it.

The watch was still on her wrist, undamaged in spite of the fight with Jason. He'd grabbed her wrist hard enough to break it, but it was just fine. It was everything else that had changed. Her arm was clothed with familiar yellow and white armor; belatedly, she realized that she was seeing all of this through a visor, and her head was protected by a helmet. Her heart skipped a beat.

It was impossible.

It was _beyond_ impossible.

But she was looking right at the proof. Somehow, Giovanni had found a way to reconnect her to the morphing grid.

She looked to him, but he had collapsed. There was blood on the floor around him, so much blood. Her first horrified instinct was to go to him, to find a way to save him, but she knew it was already too late. She'd missed her chance to pin Jason. The Entuar guards had their guns trained on her. Giovanni had already lost too much blood.

She had maybe a second left to make her choice, so she chose.

_"You can save him…"_

She hurled herself at Jason, her augmented strength allowing her to tackle him. As they tumbled to the ground in a tangle, Trini hooked her arms around him, reflexively pressed a button on the side of her watch, a button that had never been there before but which she somehow _knew_ would be there… and hoped for the best.

A moment later, the familiar sensation of teleportation enveloped her and tore her - and Jason - away.


	11. Chapter 11

Jason slept, and dreamed of Switzerland. It had been a long time since he thought about those days, but now the stirred up memories seemed fresh and vibrant, almost real. And so did the intense tangle of emotions that came with them.

He remembered Trini, radiant and beautiful, flourishing at the Peace Conference. He remembered Zack's laughter and all the new friends the three of them had made. He remembered meeting Giovanni Beaumont for the first time. Giovanni had been older than the trio from Angel Grove, getting ready to start medical school after the Conference, but he'd fallen for Trini at first sight, and he'd fallen hard. Jason had hated him immediately.

Giovanni had been entirely too perfect. Nearly as brilliant as Billy, but far more charming and far more aware of his good looks than Billy had ever been. And most irritating of all, he'd taken it so damn well when Trini told him she wasn't looking for a boyfriend. He'd been a perfect gentleman about just about everything. Like it would have killed him to have a single character flaw.

Then again, it was only a few months later that Jason got the call from Tommy that he was needed back in Angel Grove... and the next time he'd seen Trini, not only was she dating Giovanni, the two were engaged. Jason had been livid, and the fact that he'd had absolutely no grounds on which to protest only made it worse. Trini wasn't his to claim or control. He and she had never dated in all their years of friendship, so he couldn't even claim it was the natural jealousy of a scorned lover.

The fact that it had only happened after he abandoned her wasn't even worth considering.

Except it was. He'd always blamed himself for all the years she spent engaged to Beaumont and for the fact that for most of those years, he and she weren't even on speaking terms. They'd had one big blow-out fight the day she told him she and Giovanni were engaged, and then they'd each cut the other out of their lives. It had taken years, because they were both very stubborn people, but they had eventually managed to reconcile. Or at least they'd been on speaking terms for the past year or so. Jason had begun to suspect that he might even receive an invitation to the wedding, if it ever happened.

And then: this. Giovanni started acting oddly. Trini confided in others, until Giovanni disappeared altogether and his goons attacked her. That was what it had taken to get her to turn to Jason again.

At first he'd been surprised and mildly pleased. Having her in his life again had been like a breath of fresh air. Then everything went to hell. What he dimly realized was a dream began to turn into a nightmare as he remembered his fury and fear when Trini turned up missing.

Outside the fading dream, gloved hands gripped his shoulders. Waking up seemed like too much effort right now.

Trini had only disappeared because Giovanni Beaumont kidnapped her. She'd been taken when he should have protected her. He'd failed her at every turn since this whole mess started.

He fought against the restraining hands, suddenly determined to do… something. As if anything he could do now would fix the mistakes of the past.

"Jason, wake up," Trini said. "It's me. It's okay."

Finally awake, he opened his eyes and struggled to focus. He had no idea where he was or how he had got there, but above him he could see the dark shapes of a ruined building and glimpses of night sky. He was lying on his back on what must have been a stone floor with Trini kneeling beside him. It took him a long time to decide whether he was awake or still dreaming, because it looked like Trini was wearing her old Yellow Ranger uniform, minus the helmet.

"You've been unconscious for a long time," Trini went on, her voice strained. "I was starting to worry."

He tried to say something and managed an undignified grunt. Definitely awake, he decided, as his head slowly began to feel as if someone had taken a jackhammer to it. He tried again to speak, and this time words came out. "What the hell happened to me?"

"Giovanni's mind control device," she murmured quietly. "He wasn't lying. I'm immune."

 _And I'm not_ , Jason realized angrily. "Where are we? I don't remember anything after…" What _did_ he remember? He remembered Giovanni being a smug little prick, as usual, and not much else, but Trini's hurt expression told him there was a lot he wasn't remembering.

"He's dead," she said, and just that suddenly she was crying and couldn't seem to stop. For a moment Jason could only stare; he'd never seen her lose it like this in all their years of friendship, not even when she discovered the truth about her fiance. She had cried then, but that had been grief and mourning. This seemed nearer to hysteria. "They shot him because he wouldn't work on their project anymore, and now he's dead."

 _Damn it._ Much as he disliked Giovanni, and the last thing in the world he wanted was for Trini to cry over that guy, she'd loved him and now he was gone. When Jason pulled her into his arms and gave her a shoulder to cry on and murmured "I'm so sorry" into her hair, he was surprised to find he really meant it.


	12. Chapter 12

Trini had thought she had no more tears to cry over Giovanni Beaumont. She'd been wrong. She cried herself dry all over again, making a mess of Jason's shoulder in the process, and very nearly fell asleep right there in his arms when at last her tears ran out and exhaustion fell over her. But she knew she couldn't sleep now. There was too much to be done.

Jason resisted for a moment, but let her go when she pulled away. He watched her pace in the darkness for a few minutes, then: "Trini."

"It's you I'm worried about," she told him. "I don't know what that machine did to you, or what pulling you out of its grip like that might have done."

"About that," he began. "Where are we?"

She had a feeling he knew, and only wanted her to confirm his suspicions. She'd known, too, even though she hadn't initially had any idea _where_ she was teleporting to. Starlit ruins loomed around them. Dead, lifeless. Empty. _Safe_.

"We're," she paused. "This used to be the Command Center."

"That's what I thought," Jason murmured. "So, did that machine scramble my brain, or are you wearing –"

"Yes," she answered. Fighting a fresh round of tears that made her eyes ache, she added, "He found a way to reconnect me with the morphing grid, Jason. Before they killed him, he made sure I could save the world."

He'd given her back her powers. He'd told her who the Entuar were and what they were doing on Earth. He'd made sure she was immune to the device the Entuar planned to use to control the rest of humanity.

And in so doing, he'd placed the burden of protecting the entire planet squarely on her shoulders.

She hated him a little for that. And for dying, leaving her all alone to face all of this.

"Trini."

Not entirely alone, she realized. Jason was with her, and there was no way he would leave her to save the world all by herself. And maybe that was exactly what Giovanni had intended.

It had been easier when she thought he had turned evil and wanted to conquer the world, or something similar. That was simple. She could deal with that.

"Trini, power down," Jason said.

Even in the dim starlight he looked like hell. He needed rest and time to recover. And he certainly needed to be somewhere other than the decaying remains of their old Command Center. She wished he were anywhere but here with her, that he could be somewhere safe, somewhere _happy_. And at the same time, she was grateful beyond words that he _was_ here with her.

"Jason," she murmured, disliking the way her voice seemed to echo among the ruins no matter how quietly she spoke. "What am I going to do?"

She wasn't sure what she wanted him to do or say, but she wanted some of the pressure off of her. She absolutely did not want the fate of the world resting entirely on her decisions.

"First you're going to power down," Jason said, putting more emphasis on it this time. This time, she obeyed, staggering slightly as a wall of exhaustion slammed into her. "And then you're going to tell me what the hell happened while I was out, so we can figure out what to do next."

She was too tired to stand without the morphing grid's power to sustain her, so she sat next to him on the ground. "It's all jumbled up in my head," she admitted. "Everything happened really fast at the end there."

He gestured to the watch at her wrist. "You could start with that. Isn't that the watch Zack bought you in Geneva? When did that become a morpher?"

"It went missing months ago," she told him. "I thought I'd misplaced it or lost it somewhere, but I guess… I guess Giovanni had taken it. When I woke up in the Entuar base, it was there in the room with me, along with a note." She was furious with herself, now, for throwing that note away. "I didn't realize at first what it was." She paused, unsure of just how much she should tell him. She knew he was desperate to know what he had done while under the effect of the mind control device, but at the same time she didn't want him to know just how close he'd come to seriously hurting her. If she could spare him that pain, she would. "You were the one that activated it, actually."

He waited for her to say more. She wished that something – anything – would spare her from having to tell him everything. But they were alone in the ruins of the Command Center, a thousand miles from anything. There was nothing to interrupt them. And so she told him, falteringly and outrageously out of order, what she remembered of the events at the Entuar base. And she ended where she had begun: Giovanni was dead, and she was a Power Ranger again.

"Even Billy didn't think this was possible," she murmured.

"Billy's brilliant, but he doesn't know everything," Jason responded. He sounded thoughtful. "I'm not sure he could have predicted something like this."

She knew he was trying to make her feel better, but it wasn't working very well. Neither of them was in any shape for this.

"We have to stop them, somehow," she said.

"We'll find a way." There was no doubt whatsoever in his voice when he said it. If nothing else, Jason always had complete faith in his friends.

That faith would have been far more reassuring if they hadn't been facing an imminent alien takeover, and if they'd had more than one makeshift Power Ranger with a cobbled-together morpher. Saving the world had been difficult with even five Rangers. She had no idea how to manage with just one. But Jason was right: they would find a way to save their world, or they would die trying.

"We should get back," she began. She didn't finish the thought, because the very idea of what lay ahead was so daunting.

"Let's stay here till morning," Jason said into the silence that followed her suggestion.

She looked at him for clarification, too weary and confused to figure out what he was getting at on her own.

"You're exhausted," he pointed out. He must have noticed in spite of her attempts at ignoring it. He went on, "I feel like someone ran over my head with a steamroller. And unless they can track teleportation, the bad guys have no idea where we are right now."

But they did know where Jason's apartment was. And they knew where she'd lived with Giovanni. They knew of every safe haven she had back home. She realized Jason was right. For the moment, this was the safest place for them to be. They were in no condition to go back to town right now. If they teleported into a fight right now, they would be all but helpless. Better to stay where they were and take some time to recover before acting.

"You're right," she said aloud. "We should stay here tonight." She clapped a hand over her mouth as a yawn escaped.

Jason wisely said nothing. He merely moved to sit closer to her and made room for her beside him. She slipped wordlessly over to him and let him drape his arm over her shoulders. Leaning against him like that, with the crumbling wall at their backs, was far more comfortable than it should have been. But maybe that was just the exhaustion talking.

At that point, Trini didn't care. She had barely settled in beside him before sleep overtook her.


	13. Chapter 13

Whatever had happened back there, whatever his fuzzy memory wasn't telling him, it had changed Trini. Jason had been in too much pain to notice it last night, but it was obvious in the light of day. It had felt right to wake up with her snuggled up beside him for warmth against the desert's nighttime chill, and that had been the last thing that felt right all morning.

It was more than her tangled hair and rumpled clothes, or the dark and scared and angry look that simmered in her eyes. It was more than the scar at the base of her skull where Giovanni's surgery had rendered her immune to the mind control device that might yet enslave all of humanity.

She was becoming a warrior again. She was becoming a weapon again, humanity's best weapon against the Entuar invasion.

That was one last thing that Giovanni had done to rub Jason the wrong way before he died. Trini had been among the first of the Rangers to want out. It was why she'd applied for the Peace Conference, even before she knew that Jason and Zack had also applied. And now, through Giovanni's last actions, she was being thrust back into that role and there was no one else to take up the mantle.

Jason would have done it for her in a heartbeat, but Giovanni hadn't planned for that. Trini was the one he'd had easy access to. Trini was the one he trusted, the one he could manipulate. Jason wouldn't have trusted Giovanni even if he'd asked, even if he'd made the connection that Trini's closest friends might have been Power Rangers along with her.

The question that really stuck in Jason's head now, watching Trini as she tried to mentally prepare for whatever their return to civilization might drop them into, was how in the world Giovanni had figured out Trini had been a Ranger at all. It was no coincidence that in connecting to the old power grid, Giovanni had patched Trini back in to her old Saber-Tooth Tiger powers. Jason hadn't asked her about that mostly because he didn't really want to know if she'd poured out all of her deepest, darkest secrets to the likes of Giovanni Beaumont.

"I'm ready," Trini said quietly.

Jason pushed the angry thoughts aside and nodded. She stepped closer to grip his hands with hers. They'd agreed: they would teleport back into Jason's living room. That was where his files were. Or at least where they _had_ been. There was no telling where they were now, if the Entuar had raided his place. He wasn't even sure there was anything in those files that could possibly help them now, but those files were their best lead. They had to at least try to get them back. If they ran into trouble, the plan was to teleport back out immediately.

The familiar sensation of teleportation pulled at him from all sides, though this was somewhat different than how he remembered it. And then he knew why: it was _Trini's_ power that pulled him along this time, rather than his own.

An instant later they materialized in the middle of his living room. It was, as predicted, trashed. Someone – probably Entuar agents – had been there already and torn the place apart. The front door was closed, but not locked; Jason left it as it was. They would take what they needed and get the hell out, though Jason had no idea exactly where they could go.

He hated the idea of trying to live out of the old Command Center. It was old, abandoned, and disconnected. They would have no way to reach their friends and allies, or to communicate with the Earth authorities or keep an eye on the Entuar.

"Oh God, Jason, I'm so sorry," Trini murmured. She was picking her way through the shambles that had once been his desk. She kept apologizing as they dug through the mess, like it would have been better for her to go through this by herself. Like it would somehow be better if it were _her_ home in ruins. Though her home had probably been destroyed, too.

"This is all just stuff, Trini," he pointed out. "It's replaceable." _She_ wasn't. The Earth wasn't. There were so many things that were more important than the computer and cheap furniture he'd used to build his makeshift home office.

"Yes, and that disk contained everything I knew about what Giovanni was working on before he died," Trini replied. "If it's lost…"

"We'll figure something out," he reassured her, though he had no idea _how_ they would figure anything out. They knew next to nothing about what Giovanni had been up to or what the Entuar had planned even with that disk of hers. It just wasn't _enough_. Jason wasn't sure it would ever be enough to do what they needed to do. He was beginning to understand why Trini felt so hopelessly overwhelmed by it all. If they had Billy and their other friends around to help them… they might have been able to pull this off. But even if they did manage to get Billy and the others to help, none of them would be any more immune to the mind control device than Jason was.

Every scenario or plan he came up with seemed worse than the last.

"There's nothing left," Trini muttered. The dull tone of her voice was the only indication of her frustration. "We aren't going to find what we need here."

Jason had a feeling he knew what she would say next, so he interjected, "Maybe we should figure out what, exactly, we need before we make plans on how to get it."

"The Entuar have everything we need to know," she pointed out.

"Yes," he agreed, because she was right about that much, at least. Unless by some miracle they'd missed something here, which seemed unlikely. "But that doesn't mean it's a good idea to charge into their base and try to steal what we need. For all we know, they'll find a way to block us from teleporting and we won't be able to get out that way again."

She nodded, knowing he was right. It was much the same advice that she would have given him if their positions were reversed. "But we can't just do nothing."

And she was right about that. Too bad planning had never been his strong suit. His instinct was to go charging into the Entuar base, exactly like Trini wanted to, and do whatever it took to put a stop to this invasion. But he knew better than that. Things had gone badly last time they so much as went looking for Giovanni. It would only be worse if they went back.

"I'll take you back to the Command Center," Trini was saying. "You'll be safe there while I teleport in and –"

"Absolutely not."

She glared at him.

"That place is a thousand miles from anything," he went on. "You're not leaving me there with no way to get back if something should happen to you."

"You are the only other person that knows what's going on right now," she retorted. "I can't leave you where they can find you."

"How about you don't leave me behind at all?" he asked.

"We can't take the risk of both of us being captured."

"No," he said, careful now, aware that he was about to step onto thin ice. "We can't take the risk of _you_ being captured."

She didn't like that answer, he could tell. But it was true, and he'd been trying to think of how to tell her even before they teleported into his apartment. "You're the only one that can't be controlled," he continued. "If they capture you, the rest of us are lost."

"And if you go in there, they _will_ control you. They did it once, they'll do it again. And I don't know how to protect you, except to keep you out of the range of that damned machine."

He bristled at that. Not because of what she'd said, but because she was right. When it came down to it, that was the thing that made him angrier than any of the rest of it. She shouldn't have to do this alone. He should be able to go in there with her and fight beside her, like he'd always done in the old days. He shouldn't have to hide someplace safe for fear of being controlled.

"Trini, if we found the plans, could you replicate whatever it is Giovanni put in your head to protect you?"

She shook her head. "Even if he had plans or didn't destroy them, I'm not an engineer or a surgeon, Jason… I can muddle my way through the technology if there's someone to walk me through it, but I don't think I could do it on my own. And I definitely couldn't put a chip in someone's head. It wouldn't even be a good idea to try and do it that way… the logistics would make it impossible to protect even a fraction of the population that way."

She was right, of course. When it came to the science and tech side of being a Ranger, there was no one better than her and Billy. But that implant in her head was the one advantage they had over the Entuar. There had to be some way they could use it.

Maybe they didn't need to protect the entire population of Earth. Maybe they just needed to be able to protect a small task force that could then break into the base and destroy the device. If they could reactivate the old team, or at least their powers, it would be a start. "What about the morpher? With my old power coin, do you think you could rig up something similar?"

"I don't know, Jason. I'm afraid to use this morpher too much as it is. I don't know how Giovanni figured out how to tap back into the morphing grid. I don't even know how he found out I was a Power Ranger. The morpher… it might not be stable. It _shouldn't_ be stable." This was a conversation that would have been much easier with Billy around. Jason didn't know how to help with this. All he could do was keep asking questions in the hopes of sparking a good idea.

Trini's brow furrowed the more she thought about what he'd said. "Do you think he used my power coin?"

Jason shrugged. He'd simply assumed that was how Giovanni had done it. It seemed like the easiest way to connect back into the grid would be to use something that had once been connected to it. "I don't have any idea. Where were you keeping it?"

"Stuffed into the bottom of my jewelry box," she said. "He only saw it a time or two at most… I told him it was a replica, just a silly trinket to remind me of home. He seemed to believe me. At least, I thought he did at the time." She paused. "But if he thought it was real, why not ask me about it? Why not dig deeper? Why do… this?"

Jason shook his head. The only thing Giovanni had ever done that had made sense to Jason was fall for Trini. "And how did he know it would work?"

Trini did not answer, but started digging through the remains of his office all over again. "You have a screwdriver in here?"

"Somewhere," he murmured. It could be anywhere in that mess. "Why?"

She tossed the morpher to him. "I want to see what's in there."

"You sure that's a good idea?"

Jason frowned. He looked the thing over, but it just looked like an ordinary watch to him, albeit a bit heavier than he would have expected for its size. And he couldn't see any kind of seam, or a good way to get it open even if they had tools to do it. He didn't want to damage it, not when they had no way of knowing how fragile it was. "And if it really is your old power coin powering this thing, then what?"

She fixed him with a look of pure determination. "Then we replicate it, if we can." She might not have the skills to replicate the implant Giovanni had put into her head, but she knew the old Ranger technology nearly as well as Billy. It only made sense that she would be more comfortable starting there, where she had a higher chance of success. Jason knew what was coming next. "And then we find out what he did that made me immune. We need that technology. We have to get it out into the world before it's too late."


End file.
